Mortimer admits killing family, sentenced to four life sentences without parole

Wednesday

Oct 3, 2012 at 12:01 AMOct 3, 2012 at 3:19 AM

Thomas Mortimer IV admitted Wednesday that he brutally murdered his wife, two preschool children and mother-in-law in their Winchester home in 2010. Mortimer changed his plea to guilty as part of an agreement in which he was sentenced to four concurrent life sentences without possibility for parole.

Jennifer Brown Bonniwell and Evan MacDonald

Thomas Mortimer IV admitted Wednesday that he brutally murdered his wife, two preschool children and mother-in-law in their Winchester home in 2010.

Mortimer changed his plea to guilty as part of an agreement in which he was sentenced to four concurrent life sentences without possibility for parole. Life in prison without parole is the longest he could have been sentenced for, Judge S. Jane Haggerty said in accepting his guilty plea and sentencing him.

Mortimer decided to plead guilty to “accept responsibility for his actions” and to “spare others the additional trauma of a trial,” Mortimer’s defense attorney Denise Regan said during the one-hour hearing in Middlesex County Superior Court. She also stated that her client felt “deep and profound remorse” for his actions.

District Attorney Gerald Leone said there was nothing selfless about Mortimer’s change of plea, instead saying it was motivated by the “overwhelming evidence” against him.

“He selfishly took the lives of his family and he did not want a public forum for his heinous acts,” Leone said in a press conference after the hearing. “This defendant felt there was no other alternative than to plead guilty.”

Mortimer, who wore handcuffs and foot shackles during the hearing, did not make a statement during the hearing other than to say “yes, your honor” and “no, your honor” in response to questioning from the judge.

Asked if he killed his family “in the manner described” by prosecutors, Mortimer said, “Yes, your honor.”

The bodies of the family were discovered on June 16, 2010, at 2 Windsong Lane in Winchester. The house was owned by Ragna Ellen Stone. The Mortimers moved in with Stone in June 2005, shortly before Finn was born. Thomas and Laura Mortimer would have celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary this month.

No mental illness

In February, Mortimer’s defense attorneys indicated that he would claim he is not guilty by reason of insanity. To prove this defense, a defendant must show that he has a “mental defect or illness” preventing him from obeying the law or from understanding that his actions were wrong.

On Wednesday, Mortimer told judge that he did not have any mental illness or defect that prevented him from obeying the law or understanding that his actions were wrong. When asked if he had ever been treated for all mental illness, Mortimer said he said depression.

Family weeps

Mortimer’s sister-in-law Debra Sochat, his parents and about a dozen other friends and family of the victims attended the hearing. Stone-Sochat did not cry until she took the stand to testify about her sister, mother, niece and nephew during the sentencing part of the hearing.

“The loss of our loved ones can hardly be expressed,” she said, her voice choking up and her face filling with tears as she spoke. “Our lives are forever changed. The sadness does not lesson.”

As Sochat took the stand, she gave the court one photo of her mother, sister and herself and a second photo of Finn and Charlotte.

Sochat described her sister as a “funny, free spirit” who “loved being a mother.” She said she saw her late mother

Mortimer’s mother visibly wept as prosecutors described the evidence against Mortimer. She repeatedly wiped her face and cheeks with a handkerchief.

“We know that our son has done something horrible,” Mortimer’s parents said in a written statement read in court by Regan. “No one who has ever known him can imagine that he could have done something like this.”

The statement also said that they “did not understand how depressed he was.”

The Mortimers also used the statement to describe how they enjoyed playing make-believe games with their grandchildren, who they sometimes babysat for. The day before the murders, Mortimer’s parents had visited from Connecticut to watch their grandchildren to provide fill in childcare while both parents were working.

Laura Stone Mortimer’s close friend and former roommate Amanda DaSilva also testified.

“I feel empty and sad and mostly angry that they were robbed of the opportunity to live out their lives,” DaSilva said. “I try to find peace knowing that all Laura ever wanted was more time with the kids.”

Plea agreement

Mortimer had never previously suggested he was interested in a plea agreement, Leone said. He said the agreement came together this week after the two assistant district attorneys working on the trial contacted Mortimer’s defense attorneys to see if he would plead guilty.

The Stone family is “so very relieved that they did not have to relive the heinous details of the facts of this case,” Leone said.

Leone said he and many of the investigators, prosecutors and witnesses also were relieved not to have a trial.

“This is one of the most troubling and disturbing acts and crime scenes I have ever seen,” Leone said. “These first responders will live with this case forever.”

In sentencing Mortimer, the judge described the crime as “unimaginable and gruesome.”

“If redemption is even possible for you for these atrocious crimes,” Haggerty said, “you have taken the first step by sparing the family and friends of these victims the pain of trial. … It will never remove or alleviate the pain and sadness, but it is a first step.”